Meet the Artist
Nancy Adams
Ceramics
Born and raised in San Francisco, Nancy Adams is a ceramicist whose practice grew out of the American Crafts Movement that blossomed in the 1980s–2000. Her first exhibition was at the Renaissance Pleasure Fair in Marin County in 1968, where her booth—sponsored by David Barr, then CEO of Esalen—sold out, and Nancy never looked back. After exhibiting locally in many Bay Area art festivals, Nancy exhibited nationally with American Craft Council at their Baltimore and San Francisco events. She also participated in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Show for many years. Now semi-retired on her ranch in Applegate, she continues to show her work both locally with Oregon Potters Association and nationally through her online gallery representative ArtfulHome.com. Nancy’s work is based on nature with flora and fauna as totems. She is inspired by their symbolisms in folklore, Native American culture, world religions and science.
Materials and techniques used include wheel-thrown clay forms that are hand-carved and hand-modeled into flora and fauna motifs, airbrushed matte underglazes, and firing to maturity in an oxidation kiln. The work is primarily sculptural; some pieces function as boxes or as arrangements for dried materials. Each piece is signed and dated.